Vehicle with ionizing unit for cleaning air to cabin
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current air cleaning devices with ionizing units and filters are not optimized for maximum efficiency in charging and trapping airborne particles, leading to suboptimal air cleaning performance.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle air cleaning system featuring a tube-like collector electrode and a central emitter electrode configuration creates a uniform ionization field, ensuring that a majority of air flow is charged and directed towards a dielectric filter medium, enhancing particle attraction and filtration efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional ionizing units with non-tube-like collector electrodes are used, then the device complexity is lower, but the ionization uniformity and particle charging efficiency are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The collector electrode is designed with a tube-like shape (cylindrical geometry) instead of conventional flat or irregular shapes. This curved, symmetric configuration creates a uniform electric field distribution around the emitter electrode, ensuring consistent ionization across the entire air flow cross-section and significantly improving particle charging efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The emitter electrode is positioned precisely at the central axis of the tube-like collector electrode, creating a specific geometric relationship that optimizes the electric field distribution. This localized positioning ensures that the ionization effect is uniformly distributed throughout the collector electrode's interior volume, maximizing charging efficiency in each local region of the air flow.
2Productivity
If the ionization field is increased to charge more particles, then the filtration efficiency improves, but the energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tube-like collector electrode geometry fundamentally changes the electric field distribution parameters, creating a more uniform field that charges particles more efficiently at lower voltage levels. This geometric parameter optimization allows achieving high filtration efficiency without proportionally increasing energy consumption, as the uniform field reduces energy waste from field inhomogeneity.
3Manufacturing precision
If a tube-like collector electrode with central emitter electrode is used, then the ionization uniformity and particle charging improve, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tube-like (cylindrical) shape of the collector electrode provides geometric symmetry that simplifies the manufacturing process compared to irregular shapes. The uniform curvature allows for standardized fabrication methods and ensures consistent electric field distribution, achieving high ionization uniformity while maintaining reasonable manufacturing feasibility through repetitive, symmetric geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
While the overall tube shape is symmetric, the positioning of the emitter electrode at the central axis creates a controlled asymmetric relationship between the two electrodes. This deliberate asymmetric positioning optimizes the electric field distribution for uniform ionization, balancing manufacturing simplicity with performance optimization.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration significantly increases the ionization rate and filtration efficiency, resulting in cleaner air delivered to the cabin by ensuring a high percentage of airborne particles are charged and trapped, even at increased air flow rates.
Implementation Method 1
Corona discharges occur at the emitter electrode, whereby molecules in the air get charged (ionized) and turn into ions
Implementation Method 2
A voltage may be applied over the emitter electrode and the collector electrode, whereby an electric field is obtained between the emitter electrode and the collector electrode. Corona discharges occur at the emitter electrode, whereby molecules in the air get charged (ionized)
Implementation Method 3
The particles charged by the ionizing means are attracted by the fibers of the filter by electrostatic force
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
AI summary
A vehicle (1) is provided comprising a cabin (9), a conduit (2) arranged to conduct a flow of air from outside the vehicle to the cabin, and a filter unit (8) arranged to filter at least a portion of the flow of air before it enters the cabin. Further, an ionizing unit (10) is arranged in the conduit upstream of the filter unit as seen in the direction of the flow of air so as to charge particles present in the flow of air and transmit at least a major part of the charged particles towards the filter unit. The at least one collector electrode (11) has a tube-like shape arranged to conduct at least a portion of the flow of air, and the at least one emitter electrode (12) is arranged at a central axis of the tube-like shaped collector electrode, whereby a more uniform ionization field is provided.